The United States men’s basketball team are Olympic champions for a fifth consecutive time after weathering a brilliant effort by 20-year-old phenom Victor Wembanyama to grind out a 98-87 win over a dogged France side on Saturday night.

Less than 48 hours after surviving a touch-and-go semi-final against Serbia that saw their quest for a fifth straight gold dangling by a thread, the Americans overcame a superb 26-point outing by Wembanyama and a hostile crowd inside the cauldron-like Bercy Arena, where the hosts were hoping to become the first side to win men’s basketball gold on home soil since the US did so in 1996.

Stephen Curry finished with a team-high 24 points, including four three-pointers in the final 2:47, to help the Americans finally break free of a persistent French side that never quite allowed their opponents to pull away. After the game, Curry, who finished 8-of-13 from behind the arc, said he had initially struggled with his shooting in the final but then “the rhythm, the avalanche came”.

The United States improved their all-time Olympic record to 143-5, including 36-1 since their notorious flop at the Athens Olympics two decades ago.

Durant, who finished with 15 points in his first start of the Olympic tournament, became the first male athlete to win four gold medals in any team sport. Devin Booker also scored 15 with LeBron James adding 14.

But it was Curry whose long-distance heroics made the difference in the end, dazzling a celebrity-flecked audience that included Thierry Henry, Scottie Pippen, Megan Rapinoe, Gianni Infantino as well as Emmanuel and Brigitte Macron. The four-time NBA champion and Olympic debutant, back in the national team for the first time in a decade, was also the hero of Thursday’s semi-final fightback, pouring in a tournament-high 36 points as the US won from 13 points down in the fourth quarter.

The Americans have now won eight of the last nine Olympic titles in men’s basketball and 17 of 21 overall.

“We have only been together for a short period of time, and we had one common goal and that goal was gold, hold each other accountable every single day to get better, and we did that every single day until the last game,” said James, who added a third Olympic gold to his bronze from 2004. “It means everything. At this latter stage of my career, I don’t know many games I’m going to play, how many more big moments, so to have my family here means everything to me.”

The US extended a 14-point lead early in the third quarter after a back-and-forth opening half and appeared poised to pull away, but the hosts went on a 12-4 run that cut it to 72-66 entering the final period. When the 7ft 4in Wembayama threw down a tip jam that closed the US lead to 82-79 with 3:02 left, the roars inside the 10,100-seat arena rose to deafening levels. But that’s when Curry stepped up to close the show, leaving Wembanyama in tears as he left the court.

Curry helped the United States to Fiba world championships in 2010 and 2014, but the 36-year-old never represented his country in the Olympics until this year. After Saturday’s win, the national team improved to 26-0 with him on the roster.

“Big shots after big shots, the level of difficulty of those shots, and the moment, it was tremendous,” said Joel Embiid, who was jeered by the crowd with every touch over his decision to play for the United States instead of France. “Being his teammate, especially after playing against him and seeing him make all those crazy shots in the last couple of years, it’s fun to be on that side.”

Les Bleus were seeking their first Olympic gold after settling for silver at the 1948, 2000 and 2020 Olympics, losing the final to the United States each time. They have been knocking on the door at major tournaments for several years now including in Tokyo, where they handed the US their first Olympic loss in 17 years only to suffer a five-point defeat when they ran it back for the gold.

They expect to be even better at the 2027 Fiba World Cup in Qatar and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics when Wembanyama will be joined by the top two picks in this year’s NBA draft, Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr, as well as Nolan Traore, who has been projected to go in the top five in 2025. But on Saturday night, with a rollicking arena full of their supporters and a nation of 68m souls in their corner, they played second fiddle to the US juggernaut once again.

France will get another crack at the United States on Sunday afternoon when the countries meet again in the women’s basketball gold medal game, where the Americans will be heavily favored to extend their 60-game Olympic win streak and win an eighth straight gold medal.